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Fandom far afield
When was the last time you participated in fandom on the internet not through a journaling site? I don't really mean posting fanfic to something like fanfiction.net, unless you also post and discuss in the forums there. I mean discussion, meta, the posting of fanfic, the making of graphics, etc, all being share through a medium other than LJ, DW, Insane Journal, JournalFen, etc. This would be a forum, website, mailing list . . . if you did something like a fanzine, not online, I'm interested in that too.
1) What fandom was it?
2) What was the medium? (e.g. was it a forum, a mailing list, etc)
3) When was this?
4) Are you still active in that fandom?
5) Why did you participate there, and not at a journaling site?
6) Are you more active in fandom on journaling sites or at other places?
7) How did the different mode of interaction affect your fandom participation?
8) Does there seem to you to be a difference in fen between the other medium and journaling sites? What are the differences? Why do you think those differences exist? Is it the nature of that fandom, or do you think it has anything to do with where that fandom is taking place?
9) What were the fen in the other medium's thoughts on yaoi? (No, seriously. What was the general sentiment towards slash?)
10) Was it easier or harder to get into a fandom through a medium other than a journaling site?
11) Which medium do you prefer?
If it sounds like I'm doing a study, I'm not. I'm just dabbling around in this other fandom, the fen of which seems mainly to congregate around a forum rather than playing on LJ/DW. I'm wondering how many people share my experiences there. Forums used to be my main method of fandom access. I was comfortable in them and found LJ inconvenient and not very suited to my style. I became used to it because I decided a lot of cool people were here...and now I'm beginning to think it's the only way!
1) What fandom was it?
2) What was the medium? (e.g. was it a forum, a mailing list, etc)
3) When was this?
4) Are you still active in that fandom?
5) Why did you participate there, and not at a journaling site?
6) Are you more active in fandom on journaling sites or at other places?
7) How did the different mode of interaction affect your fandom participation?
8) Does there seem to you to be a difference in fen between the other medium and journaling sites? What are the differences? Why do you think those differences exist? Is it the nature of that fandom, or do you think it has anything to do with where that fandom is taking place?
9) What were the fen in the other medium's thoughts on yaoi? (No, seriously. What was the general sentiment towards slash?)
10) Was it easier or harder to get into a fandom through a medium other than a journaling site?
11) Which medium do you prefer?
If it sounds like I'm doing a study, I'm not. I'm just dabbling around in this other fandom, the fen of which seems mainly to congregate around a forum rather than playing on LJ/DW. I'm wondering how many people share my experiences there. Forums used to be my main method of fandom access. I was comfortable in them and found LJ inconvenient and not very suited to my style. I became used to it because I decided a lot of cool people were here...and now I'm beginning to think it's the only way!
no subject
1) 24
2) Forum
3) Eh... 2002ish
4) No
5) I didn't realize there was a fandom presence on journaling sites, and forums were the medium I was familiar with from a previous fandom.
6) Right now, primarily journaling, though I do still post fic to archives.
7) I don't think forums are a very good medium for fanfic, which is why I started with archives in BtVS fandom, and then moved to LJ (which I think is a good compromise format if you want both discussion and fic, though it's not optimal for either). I was in 24 fandom for the discussion, and hardly anybody wrote fic, so a forum suited our needs.
8) I don't think there's a difference in the fans as a whole. I think the difference is that LJ is more self-selective - you choose your flist. You can flock your journal and only talk to your friends if you want. But if you like meeting new people, then there's always the opportunity to do that by being more outgoing, joining a comm or commenting on other people's posts.
9) No idea. We didn't write fanfic, and 24 is not a particularly shippy fandom (or at least, it wasn't at the time).
10) I think it's probably easier to get into a fandom through other media - LJ can be difficult to navigate if you don't know where to start. I only came to LJ after having established a group of friends on an archive, who then encouraged me to get an LJ. With a forum, it can be a bit intimidating to jump into the discussion as a newbie, but at least you can find it all in one place, rather than following a trail of discussion from one person's LJ to the next.
11) LJ. This is partly due to the nature of BtVS fandom - it's so segregated and all the different factions HATE each other, which can make participating in a forum a really unpleasant experience. (The more I see people talking about the comics
flame warsdebates happening on the forums, the less I want to go there.) I never felt that way with my previous fandoms. But also what I mentioned above about LJ being a good compromise format. Archives are the best for fic, but don't really promote discussion, and forums are the best for discussion, but tracking a fic can be really difficult. So if you want everything all in one place, then LJ is the best set up for that, I think.